JOHN DOUGLASS FERRY, professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1946 until his retirement in 1982, was both a world–renowned rheologist and a highly respected chemist who made important contributions to physical chemistry, biological chemistry, and bioengineering. He was born May 4, 1912, in Dawson, Yukon, Canada, to US citizens. His father, Douglass Ferry, worked at the time as a civil engineer for the Yukon Gold Company. His mother, Eudora Bundy Ferry, a former schoolteacher, wrote a book describing their life in the mining community, Yukon Gold: Pioneering Days in the Canadian North.

John Ferry’s childhood was spent in small mining towns in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. In 1932, at age 19, he graduated with an AB from Stanford University, his parents’ alma mater, with a straight A record, the first in the history of the institution. After two years of graduate study and research on ultrafiltration of proteins in London at the National Institute for Medical Research, he returned to Stanford to complete his PhD in 1935 in chemistry.

John then worked with D. Spence, a rubber chemist, on vulcanization accelerators. For the next ten years he held a series of positions at Harvard University and nearby: instructor in biochemical sciences; member of the Society of

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J O H N D O U G L A S S F E R RY
1912–2002
Elected in 1992
“For developing experimental and a conceptual framework for
modern viscoelasticity of polymers.”
BY R. BYRON BIRD AND A. JEFFREY GIACOMIN
JOHN DOUGLASS FERRY, professor in the Department
of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from
1946 until his retirement in 1982, was both a world–renowned
rheologist and a highly respected chemist who made important
contributions to physical chemistry, biological chemistry, and
bioengineering. He was born May 4, 1912, in Dawson, Yukon,
Canada, to US citizens. His father, Douglass Ferry, worked at
the time as a civil engineer for the Yukon Gold Company. His
mother, Eudora Bundy Ferry, a former schoolteacher, wrote
a book describing their life in the mining community, Yukon
Gold: Pioneering Days in the Canadian North.
John Ferry’s childhood was spent in small mining towns
in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. In 1932, at age 19, he
graduated with an AB from Stanford University, his parents’
alma mater, with a straight A record, the first in the history of
the institution. After two years of graduate study and research
on ultrafiltration of proteins in London at the National Institute
for Medical Research, he returned to Stanford to complete his
PhD in 1935 in chemistry.
John then worked with D. Spence, a rubber chemist, on
vulcanization accelerators. For the next ten years he held
a series of positions at Harvard University and nearby:
instructor in biochemical sciences; member of the Society of
97

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98 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Fellows; research associate in the Harvard Medical School;
researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(developing antifouling paints for the US Navy during World
War II); and member of the E.J. Cohn group, working on large-
scale fractionation of human blood plasma to obtain serum
albumin and other plasma proteins for clinical use by the US
Armed Forces. This latter work began a career-long interest in
fibrinogen and fibrin as well as the general problem of blood
coagulation. With colleague Peter Morrison he developed
several new products, including a fibrin film that was the
first safe and effective surgical replacement for the dural
membrane, thereby facilitating brain surgery.
After this decade of involvement in diverse research topics
in several fields, John accepted a position in the Department
of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1946,
where he decided to focus on the rheology of polymeric fluids
and the relation of these properties to molecular structure
and molecular motion. Together with his graduate students
T.L. Smith, R.S. Marvin, J.N. Ashworth, W.M. Sawyer Jr.,
E.R. Fitzgerald, D.J. Plazek, M.H. Birnboim, and others, John
was the first to develop sophisticated equipment to measure
the real and imaginary components of complex viscosity,
η* = η′ − iη”, from oscillatory experiments. He and his PhD
student Thor Smith may well have been the first to measure
both components.
John’s well-defined experimental program produced data
on a wide variety of polymeric materials, illuminating many
aspects of the physics of these materials. His results were written
up in his groundbreaking monograph Viscoelastic Properties of
Polymers, 1st edition (1961), 2nd edition (1970), 3rd edition
(1980), published by John Wiley & Sons. In each succeeding
edition, he added material reflecting the accomplishments of
the rheological community during the preceding decade.
John Ferry’s work on the temperature dependence of
viscoelastic properties, and specifically his discovery of the shift
factor aT, had an enormous impact on polymer engineering.
The famous Williams-Landel-Ferry (WLF) equation,
log10aT = −17.44(T − Tg) (51.6ºK + T − Tg), where Tg is the
/

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J O H N D O U G L A S S F E R RY 99
glass transition temperature, allowed engineers to extrapolate
rheological properties over a wide range of temperatures
[M.L. Williams, R.F. Landel, and J.D. Ferry, J. Amer. Chem. Soc.
77:3701-3707 (1955)]. This eliminated the need for tedious
rheological measurements at many temperatures.
Ferry’s team perfected the measurement of complex
viscosity, and this work spawned an industry of commercial
rheometers for doing the same. But the eventual impact
of Ferry’s rheometry on polymer engineering awaited the
fortuitous development of the Cox-Merz rule (1958). This
rule, that the magnitude of the complex viscosity versus
angular frequency matches the steady shear viscosity versus
shear rate, | (ω) =η(˙) γ= ω , suddenly made complex
η* | γ |˙
viscosity indispensable for the design of polymer processing
operations, which depend on η(˙). Whereas η*(ω) was easily
γ
measured, η(˙) required (and still does) an undue amount of
γ
experimentation.
By publishing accurate and precise measurements of
complex viscosity, Ferry’s team enabled and motivated others
to relate rheological properties to the molecular structure of
polymers. Ferry’s measurements, for example, inspired Prince
E. Rouse in 1953 to use a freely jointed chain of beads and
Hookean springs to model polymers in dilute solution. Rouse’s
work was the springboard for further structure-property
developments that continue to this day, enabling polymer
engineers to adjust their polymer manufacturing operations
by changing the polymer’s molecular structure.
Because of his organizational skills and his straightforward
manner, John was elected by his colleagues to chair the
University of Wisconsin Department of Chemistry from 1959
to 1967. In 1968, he was a founding member of the University’s
Rheology Research Center, in which he played an active role
well beyond his retirement. In addition, he was president of
the Society of Rheology (1961–1963), and in 1961 hosted the
Society for its annual meeting. He also chaired the National
Research Council Committee on Macromolecular Chemistry
from 1958 to 1962, served on the Visiting Commitee for the
Department of Chemistry at Harvard University from 1975 to

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100 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
1981, and was joint editor of Advances in Polymer Science from
1958 to 1986.
In addition, John held visiting appointments at institutions
in Brussels, London, Grenoble, Strasbourg, and Kyoto. His
sojourns in France, Belgium, and Japan were opportunities
for him to further his hobby of foreign language study, a
pastime that engaged him since his youth. As a boy, he had
taught himself enough Latin and German to go directly into
advanced classes.
His scientific contributions were recognized by many
awards, including five from the American Chemical Society:
the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, the Kendall Award
in Colloid Chemistry, the Witco Award in Polymer Chemistry,
the Charles Goodyear Medal, and the Division of Polymer
Chemistry Award. He also received the Bingham Medal of
the Society of Rheology (for his contributions to knowledge
of the rheology of polymeric systems, particularly in the field
of periodic stresses), the Colwyn Medal of the Institution of
the Rubber Industry (UK), and the Technical Award of the
International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers. In
addition, he was named an honorary member of the Groupe
Français de Rhéologie and the Japanese Society of Rheology.
His research accomplishments were recognized by his election
to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering
(the latter in 1992).
John passed away on October 18, 2002, in Madison after an
extremely productive career and a life of professional leadership
and teaching. In addition to his treatise on viscoelasticity, he
was author or coauthor of more than 350 research publications,
about 30 percent of them on fibrinogen and fibrin. He supervised
more than 60 PhD and MS students and about 30 postdoctoral
fellows, many from foreign countries. It is fitting that we close
with a quote from the memorial resolution prepared by his
colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, who knew him well
and appreciated his personal qualities:

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J O H N D O U G L A S S F E R RY 101
John Ferry was equally well known and appreciated for attributes
other than his scientific abilities and contributions. He was a true
gentleman, a dedicated teacher, and mentor who always had a
genuine and abiding interest in and concern for all of his former
students and collaborators. His gentle, patient, and quiet personality
had an effect on all who were privileged to know and work with
him. His reputation for absolute integrity and his uncanny ability to
emphasize and encourage the best in others are attributes to which
we all should aspire. Former students and colleagues have many
fond memories of times spent at the Ferry home with John and
his charming and vivacious wife, Barbara [Norton Mott], a former
chemist [Radcliffe 1942] turned artist.
Additional Biographical Information:
R.F. Doolittle, Biophysical Chemistry 112:177–180 (2004).
H. Eisenberg, Biophysical Chemistry 112:229–231 (2004).
J.S. Finlayson, Biophysical Chemistry 112:153–154 (2004).
R.R. Hantgan, Biophysical Chemistry 112:293 (2004).
R.F. Landel, J. Polymer Sci.: Polymer Physics Ed. 21:i–v (January
1983).
R.F. Landel, M.W. Mosesson, and J.L. Schrag, National
Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs 90:86–105
(2007).
M.W. Mosesson, Biophysical Chemistry 112:91–93, 215–218
(2004).
J.L. Schrag, Rubber Chemistry and Technology 54:G72–G75
(March–April 1981).
J.L. Schrag and R. F. Landel, Rheologica Acta 36:205–208 (1997).
L. Smail, “Oral History Program Interview with John Ferry,”
[sound recording, transcript (100 pp.)], University of
Wisconsin–Madison (1985).
I. Tinoco, Biophysical Chemistry 112:105–108 (2004).
N.W. Tschoegl, Macromolecules 20:909–910 (1987).

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